We All Know The Good Spots

We hear about them, see them featured in articles and every so often we get to experience them.

I'm talking about the best spots to eat in town. 

 I finally had my own experience at one of the best. I had the pleasure of meeting some family at The Drip in Five Points this morning.

 I walked in, Daisy in tow and was greated by friendly faces and some cool jazz. The place was comfortable and perfect for a relaxed get-to-gether.

Upon a quick review of the menu, I spotted a prosciutto, brie and egg biscuit with a fig jam. Hello! That's four of my favorite things. The only hang up was...uhm, I don't like biscuits.

 Yup, you read that right, I-don't-like-biscuits. 

I asked if I could sub-it-out and was sort of let down that I couldn't, even though I understood why. I ordered it anyway. 

When it came, I quickly inhaled it. I was pleasantly surprised that I actually enjoyed the life long dreaded pastry.  And I might even say that they have turned this girl into a biscuit eater. Ok, maybe I won't be eating them everywhere, but I'll enjoy a few more there along with another giant coffee.

Egghead!

You know I'm an egghead. I eat a lot of eggs. I'd probably eat only eggs if I could. Okay, maybe not only, but pretty close.

With all the egg-eating I do, I've become accustomed to a certain amount of, well, crackage technique. Here is my theory.

There's a huge difference between eggs. Not necessarily between white and brown eggs, but between the "got-from-a-local-farmer/free range/cage free/ humanely treated/organic".
Personally, I only recently have noticed the "humanely treated." It kind of surprised me. I guess I was thinking all "free-range, cage-free, organic" were treated humanely. Boy, was I wrong!
I have learned that the "organic" label does not guarantee "humane" treatment. Organic just means that the item was produced out of a non-genetically modified base, which don't get me wrong, is still great!

However, in order to get the best egg crackage, the bird needs to eat, roam and lay eggs like nature intended, without the chicken ever receiving a handout. I mean, they lay one egg a day!

So, I am saying that aside from getting eggs directly from a local farmer, humane eggs are the way to go: perfect crackage, nice sun-colored yokes, and taste you can enjoy!

Sent from my iPhone

Time Travel?, I think not

Each time I come to write, I think "Wow, Where has the time gone?" It seems as if I am living in some random time warp that I manage to escape, for a brief moment before I am completely sucked back in.
I guess that moment was while I was typing because I here my 3 year old sneaking around in the bathroom.
Ok, all is safe. He was brushing his teeth. How could I be upset with that?
All these little things pile up and the next thing you know a week has just evaporated. During the times I can actually recall this month, I did discover a few interesting things.
A.) I am an out right Grocery Store Snob! I found myself being uber critical in a store. Yes, they were out of almost all good veggies, bread and fruits. But I should look at the bright side, I found a great supply of skirt steak.
I hear the two sides battling out in my head! Good points, bad points and back and forth. Ugh. The truth is it just boils down to how I eat and the things I want to feed my family. I may snub the mass quantity of chicken in the cold case when I am buying it, but would never do so if someone offered it to me for supper. So, I guess that makes me a snob with manners?
Anyway, my point is, Shop at a grocery that fits your family. If it's important for you to have grass fed beef, or free range eggs shop where you know you can get them.
If not use the paper to find the best deal :) Just make your food, the way you like it.

B.) I need to listen more. My friend has told me over and over about using different products to clean, places to find deals ect. Only this past week, when everyone in the house was sick with that nasty virus, and I was out of carpet cleaner, did I decide to listen to her.
I opted to use her Vinegar and Water tactic to clean the puked on carpets. Holy macaroni it was awesome. I did have to take a bit more time to get it all out, but it really worked great. ( I also added peppermint oil, so it smells like a giant peppermint patty. So word of advice, go easy on the oil.)
C.) Becoming a mother was one of the most difficult transitions I have yet to deal with. The unspoken social changes that occur are unlike anything I care to explain. Having found a group of women that understand and acknowledge the changes is the best gift.With that, I'd like to thank those who have helped, encouraged and rooted me on. I am so grateful.

Whole Foods Columbia!!

WooHoo, Whole Foods has opened here in Columbia! I was so extremely excited to hit it up. I dropped my son at school and my daughter and I headed that way on opening day. Mind you, I had no shower and was wearing workout cloths. Geesh, at least I had a fair chance of not knowing anyone.

 I had heard how fabulous it from a friend that went on the pre-tour and I was drooling like a bull dog to get there. I was dreaming of all the fabulous local product I was going to discover and  I was excited to see some I was already familiar with.

We get there and bam, holy parking craziness. There are cars everywhere and nobody is being , well a courteous driver. I finally scored a sweet spot by the Basil restraunt. Sweet!

In we go! No carts, no biggy, it’ll keep me from buys a bunch of stuff. I swear it was so packed in there but somehow it really didn’t matter. I was in my own Disney world. We roamed around trying to get a handle on what was where, and how to shop the store. It was glorious.

The floor was super shiny and the bulk section was just amazing. The fish man was refreshingly smiley and helpful, even after I had a twenty min conversation with someone I ran into that I know through friends. Great, yoga pants and funky hair.

Bulk foods

It was so much to take in, I opted to enjoy what I had seen and, actually left the store without even getting the groceries that I really did need.

Mr. Mom Monday rolled around and I headed back to my Disney World CHILDLESS! I picked up my friend and we rolled out.

Parking was easy, carts available and I was still overwhelmed and excited. After I relaxed and started to see it as a grocery store and not my imaginary pantry, I started noticing things. Comparing products from all the stores I shop, looking at prices, looking at where thing come from and most of all looking for some local farmers product I was positive I would find.

I saw several items from here, but mostly not. Glad to see City Roots made it in but I kind of figured they were a given.

My overall realization was that yes, It’s a wonderful addition to our community. However, Whole Foods is not a farmers market, and if you want to shop local you still need to go looking for it. Rosewood Market, Earth Fare, Soda City Market, Kershaw County Market, Old McCaskills Farm, Ovis Farms and the many others I am so thankful for. I may not get to everyone all the time, but I do make my rounds and am so very grateful to have you in makeup community.

So I welcome the great addition and am still super excited for my shopping trips there.Shop on Columbia :)

Make your own Trail Mix :)